


FIC:  The Right Thing To Do

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-01-02
Updated: 2002-01-02
Packaged: 2017-11-01 08:44:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/354540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clark finds out that Lex is blackmailing Dr. Hamilton, and is very not happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	FIC:  The Right Thing To Do

## FIC: The Right Thing To Do

by Lunar Plutonian

[]()

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with the "Smallville" television show, and any copyright violation is purely unintentional. 

Today is going to be the day, Clark thought as he nervously approached the door to Lex's mansion, which looked like a medieval fortress. It pretty much was that, seeing as how Lex's father had the castle imported stone by stone from Scotland. That fine Sunday afternoon, Clark would finally make love to Lex. Or rather, Lex would make love to Clark. Clark had no experience in these matters. But now that Clark knew his own sweat was a high-powered aphrodisiac, he couldn't let the man he loved live in the torment of unsatisfied desire. And Clark wanted it, too. The only reason he didn't make love to Lex right after stopping the CarBot was because acknowledging these feelings for another guy (A sweet, wonderful, terrific guy, Clark thought gushily) was so new to him. Besides, he loved Lex so much that he didn't want to ruin the close friendship they had developed by acting on their mutual desire too soon. 

Lex's butler let Clark in and went to get "Mr. Luthor", as the servant habitually referred to Lex. Lex walked into the room a few minutes later as he put his cell phone in the pocket of his expensive black dress-jacket. Lex was also wearing black microweave pants and an amethyst purple shirt that set off his eyes nicely. 

Lex apparently saw the nervousness in Clark's eyes. "We really don't have to do this if you're not ready, Clark. I hope you know that." 

"Lex, I'm going to be a bit anxious no matter when we decide to do it, and this is all I've been able to think about for the past twenty-four hours." 

"Coolness!" Lex smiled one of his few wide, beaming, sincere smiles. "Unfortunately, there's some business we've got to take care of first. Remember that Dr. Hamilton guy I told you about?" 

"The scientist in your employ who built the particle beam that we stopped the CarBots with?" 

"Yes, that one. Hamilton wants his beam-generator back. I've been terribly busy with the fertilizer plant, and, well, with you, and I haven't had a chance to get it back to him. He's getting all bitchy about it, so I just told him he can come over and get the damn thing now. Helluva time, but it should only take a few minutes." 

Clark was actually relieved that they wouldn't have to start getting all hot and heavy right away. "Okay, fine." 

Lex walked with Clark over to the TV room, turned on the big-screen TV, and gave the remote to Clark. Lex groaned when Clark settled on a rerun of VOYAGER. 

"Rather watch something else?" Clark asked. 

"No, it's not important. There's something I need to show you." 

Clark grinned wickedly. "Lex, I thought you said you were going to take care of this business with Dr. Hamilton first!" 

"No, that's not what I meant." Lex walked over to a cabinet on the floor, opened it, and took out a fancy lead box. Clark gulped, guessing what was in the box. 

"Don't worry, Clark. This box contains both a red meteor rock and a green meteor rock. And the box itself has a catch on it that only opens when you touch it in a certain way. I really should have given this to you earlier, but I know how threatened you feel by these meteor rocks. Anyway, since the red and green rocks neutralize one another, I thought you should have this in case you ever encounter problems with either kind of meteor fragment so that you have a remedy right handy. And I picked the box out especially for you." 

Clark could feel his face getting all flushed. The box was just beautiful. Ornate in a very old-fashioned kind of way, he could only guess at how much it had cost. Lex had also had a gold medallion affixed to it with the letters "CK" on it in fancy script. Clark walked over to Lex and hugged him, though being careful this time that his enthusiasm didn't squeeze the air out of his older boyfriend. "I don't know what to say," Clark said as he finished the embrace. 

"I'm going to show you how to open it. Are you ready?" 

Clark braced himself. "Go for it." 

Lex ran his right index finger along the bottom of the catch on the lid, then pressed the center of the catch. The box sprang open, revealing the red and green rocks, each of which started to glow. Clark felt a bit strange, but he was otherwise unaffected. Lex closed the box, which easily snapped shut as the catch locked the box. 

"Thanks, Lex. You're the best!" 

Lex grinned. "I know." 

They were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. A few minutes later, Dr. Hamilton was shown into the room by Lex's butler. Dr. Hamilton looked at Lex in a way that conveyed the surprising impression that there was no love lost between the two of them. 

Lex pulled the particle-beam out of the large cabinet from which he had drawn the lead box. "Here's your beam. I need to keep the meteor rocks because I have other uses for them." 

"I'm sure you do," Hamilton said dryly. 

"Look, Hamilton, our association benefits us both, so don't give me that attitude." 

Hamilton was clearly getting sick of Lex Luthor. He looked over at Clark and said, "A 'mutual association' he calls it! I don't suppose your friend here told you that he has something on me that would ruin what's left of my reputation if it ever got out." 

Lex's eyes blossomed into flowers of pure rage. "And I could just as easily have you killed, you son of a bitch! And they'd never find the body!" 

Clark suddenly felt dizzy and sick, and it wasn't because of the meteor rocks, which were safely locked away in the box Lex was still holding. It was because his image of Lex as the self-indulgent cad who secretly had a heart of gold had just been shattered in one vicious body-blow. Clark looked at Lex accusingly. 

Hamilton simply walked over to Lex, took his particle-beam, looked over at Clark, and headed towards the front door of the house. "I assume I'll be hearing from you about whatever project you have in mind next, MISTER Luthor." 

* * *

Lex couldn't believe what Hamilton had just done. He should have known better than to let Hamilton and Clark even be in the same room together. Lionel Luthor, after all, would never have made a mistake that huge. And Lex had realized the moment after saying it that his threatening Hamilton had only made things with Clark far, far worse. Lex could almost here the crack forming in his heart when he looked at Clark and saw the boy's enraged glower. 

"Clark, I didn't mean what I said about killing him. I just lost my temper. And blackmailing that ornery kook was the only way I could get him to work with me. I knew those meteor rocks were a danger to you ever since I found you trussed up in that cornfield back in October wearing that green necklace. I wanted to protect you from those things. I did it for you! Please don't be mad at me!" Lex cursed himself for the desperate pleading tone that was entering his words. 

Clark's jaw dropped open. "Don't be mad at you? You blackmail people and threaten their lives like it's nothing, and then act like it's okay because you did it for me?! Dammit, Lex, you hurt people because of ME!" Clark adamantly pointed his right index finger at his own heart. "Do you have ANY concept of how dirty that makes me feel? How could you do that to me?" 

"Clark, this is the real world. If you want to make an omlet, you have to break some eggs." 

"Even if you ending up breaking my heart in the process? I know you have some questionable ways of doing things in your business-life, but until now, I thought you really cared about other people." 

"I do, Clark, I just care about you more!" 

"That still doesn't make it right." Clark looked away. "I think I should go now. I don't even want to look at you right now!" 

Dammit to hell, Lex thought. Two days later and Clark was emotionally torturing him again! But this time Lex knew he had truly brought it upon himself. He held out the box. "Even if you don't like me anymore, I still want you have this. It can protect you, and I hope it reminds you that no matter how you feel about me, I'll still love you." 

Clark took the box from Lex's hands as a single tear fell from his left eye. Lex felt the same way, but Luthors didn't cry, ever. Or at least not in front of other people. Clark wiped the tear away and left the sprawling house without saying a word to Lex. The emotion Lex was feeling had been absent from his life for so many years, he hadn't recognized it right away: It was guilt, black and horrible. Two nights ago, he had felt terrible about getting carried away with his passion for Clark, but he knew he hadn't done anything really evil because he had stopped when Clark had said for him to stop. This was way different, though, no doubt about it. 

Even if things could never be the same between himself and Clark, it still felt important to try and undo the wrong he had done. And that's what he would do. Lex looked over at the TV and realized that the Captain Janeway character was launching into one her droning sermons. Lex wondered how differently he might have turned out had his father been someone like one of those fictional Starfleet captains rather than that sociopath Lionel Luthor. 

* * *

Clark sat in the loft of the barn on the Kent Farm staring at the box Lex had given him. It was early Friday night, and he hadn't spoken with Lex since that Sunday. He had been spending so much time staring at this tangible symbol of Lex's love for him, he had every detail of the box memorized. His parents knew something was wrong, and that it probably had something to do with Lex, but they knew by now that he simply wasn't going to talk about Lex with them, especially not with the things Johnathan Kent always said about his beloved Lex. 

Was his father right about Lex? Clark was very angry at Lex, but he just couldn't hate Lex for doing that to Dr. Hamilton. It was awful and wrong, but Lex had only been trying to look out for him, just like he always did. A lot of Lex's problem came from that whole "ends justify the means" crap Lionel Luthor had instilled into his son. He knew he shouldn't be making excuses for someone who was old enough to know better, but how could he hate a guy who devoted all his personal time to keeping Clark happy and safe? The problem was, Lex had to realize what he had done was wrong because it was just wrong, not just because Clark was mad at him. Did Lex have it in him? 

Clark heard footsteps coming up the ladder to the loft. He hid the box Lex had given him under a sleeping bag. It was his father, with a disapproving look on his face. Lex was probably calling. 

"Son, phone for you. It's Lex Luthor." 

Clark fought the urge to tear out the loft with a blur of super-speed to get to the phone. In front of his father, that just would not have done. Clark and his father walked back to the house. Though Clark was walking in front, he could feel his father's "When are you going to tell me what the hell is going on with you two?" look behind him. 

Clark took Lex's call on the extension phone in his bedroom. "What do you want, Lex?" What he really wanted to say was, "Are you okay, Lex?" But Lex had a lesson to learn here, and Clark was going to make sure he learned it. 

"We need to talk. Like right now." Lex's voice was cool and commanding, but Clark suspected what he wanted to say was, "Please don't hate me...." 

"I don't take orders from bullies." 

Silence. The words were probably a verbal bitch-slap for Lex, but that was what he needed. Clark so hated having to be like this to the man he loved! 

"Okay, I deserved that." 

Clark fought the urge to say "Who are you and what have you done with Lex Luthor?" Instead, he simply said, "And...?" 

"And everything you said was absolutely right, especially about how I hurt you because I did something wrong because of you." 

"Because you don't want me to be mad at you. Not good enough, Lex." 

Clark heard a fist on the other end of the line hit a wooden surface. "Dammit to hell, Clark!" Deep inhalation sound from the receiver. "Could you please just come over here so we can talk? Even if it's the last time you ever come here to talk to me. I won't beg Clark, but it would mean a lot to me if you would. I want to make this right." 

That "last time" business was just too much for Clark. "Well, okay. But I'm still really mad at you, Lex." 

"I know, you should be." 

"I'll be right over." 

**TO BE CONTINUED**


End file.
